This project has the long range objective of studying the chemistry and structure of nucleotides, polynucleotides and nucleic acids and the application of these studies to the understanding of biochemical and biological processes. Topics of current interest include: (1) structure and reactivity of polynucleotides and the relation between the two; (2) stabilization of ordered forms of nucleic acids and polynucleotides; (3) spectroscopic studies of polynucleotides: infrared, ultraviolet, and circular dichroism; (4) design and synthesis of new polynucleotides having properties required for the foregoing studies.